


Just One More

by Ellerigby13



Series: Harlequin Prompts 2020 [5]
Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Badass Ava Starr, Bounty Hunters, F/M, Inspired by Red Dead Redemption, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22574770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellerigby13/pseuds/Ellerigby13
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single sheriff in the taming of a good town, must be in want of a date.  It is a truth also universally acknowledged, that bright-eyed bounty hunters do not make for easy dating material.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Ava Starr
Series: Harlequin Prompts 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619725
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: MHEA Harlequin Hoopla Prompt Challenge 2020





	Just One More

“Brought you one warm, Sheriff.”

And indeed she had. Ellen Brandt was kicking and cursing and damning everyone in the vicinity to hell, and she kept on with it even after Ava Starr hoisted her off the back of her horse and dumped her into a cell at the back of the Valentine jail.

“Not like you to keep ‘em kicking before you bring them in, Miss Starr,” Steve mused, as he counted out the reward money the sheriff's office and the town had gathered up and pressed it into her rough, calloused hand.

“Perhaps I want to come back to town to see her hanged. She’s got a filthy mouth, that one.” Brandt was still hissing at her, making every threat she could think of concerning every part of Ava’s anatomy.

“You want to come back to town to see her hanged, but you won’t join me for dinner. Why don’t you stay a bit longer today? Always off in a hurry to the next head you can claim.” Steve leaned against the post by the door, folding his arms over his broad chest, and the small bronze star that glittered there. “How many bounty posters d’you need to let me take you out, Miss Starr?”

“Just one more, Sheriff Rogers.” She tilted her hips to the side and extended a hand, pouting at him, for the poster behind him on the wall.

“You say one more every time,” he grumbled, but smiled and took the latest poster off, eyes scanning the headline and the sketch of the ugly mug below. “They want this feller in alive, too. You sure you wanna handle that? I know what it must do for your reputation, keepin’ ‘em warm so long.”

She rolled her eyes. “Some hick missing his front six teeth?”

“Nome, his name’s Elliot, Elliot Grote. Shot Miss Page’s grandmother near a fortnight ago, plain as day, and been on the run in the mountains ever since. Shouldn’t be hard to catch him breathin’. Folks round here say he was as useless as he was dumb. He’ll be hurtin’ for a good bite of food if you can find him before he starves.”

He showed her the picture; Grote was thin-faced, with wild eyes that would’ve seemed beady if he could stand not to stare widely out of them. There was a scar under his chin, and the scraggly beard in the picture likely could have grown out by now. She tucked the poster into her bag, and nodded her thanks before moving to shoulder her way out the door.

Steve caught her by the elbow, something glowing earnest in his eyes. “After this one. You’ll let me take you out somewhere nice for dinner?”

“Steve,” Ava smiled, and slid her arm over his shoulder, standing on tiptoe so she could plant a tender kiss at the corner of his jaw. “By the time I catch this one, I’ll have enough to take  _ you _ somewhere nice for dinner. What’s that they say? ‘Patience is a virtue’?”

Her mouth was so close, warm and small and inviting, that if he’d just leaned his head down a bit closer, if he just let his large hand slip down the small of her back…

She pulled out of his arms, letting her dainty fingers linger a moment longer on his bare hand, and sauntered out the door of his office. He stepped out to watch her mount her mare, a fine Tennessee Walker he’d often heard her call Ghost. Ava met his eyes before she rode off, tipping her hat, and blew him a kiss for the whole town to see, then turned Ghost around and dashed her down the long, dusty road ahead.

The deputy cleared his throat from beside him. “You got one hell of a woman there, Rogers.”

Steve shook his head, a fond grin starting to take residence in his cheeks. “I reckon she’s the one that’s got me, Barnes.”


End file.
